Third Tri

I am entering my third trimester... and this is only the second pregnancy-related post. I am kicking myself because I know that I am going to want a record of all of this. I love being able to read back on my pregnancy with Mateo, and it makes me sad that this baby isn't going to have a similar archive of the time leading up to birth. But enough with the guilt trip, I'll just start typing.

So, first, it's a boy. Yay! I wouldn't have cared either way, of course, as long as the baby was healthy and happy. Nothing drove that point home more than when we had an abnormal finding on our ultrasound, and were put through the painful process of getting further testing done. Those were some very difficult weeks, and I am happy to report that everything seems to have checked out fine. We had another ultrasound a few days ago as a six-week follow-up, just in case, and everything still looks good. Our doctor has been wonderful; I can't help but think that anybody who chooses perinatology is required to have a way with people, especially super-concerned, hyper-paranoid pregnant women. He scheduled one more follow-up with us in eight weeks, when I will officially be VERY pregnant.

Other than those issues, this pregnancy is not all that much different than my pregnancy with Mateo. I am thankful that the physical side effects of pregnancy have thus far not been too bad for me with either child. I was incredibly exhausted the first trimester, more so than I remember with Mateo, but my life is also a lot more hectic now than it was then. School was a definite struggle because I often felt like I was looking at everything through a fog. I liken it to having a caffeine headache for three straight months. Second trimester was a breeze, physically, though a large chunk of it was spent dealing with the worrying and fears provoked by our initial ultrasound. As far as my belly goes, in the last two weeks, I have really popped. This week, I have had at least ten people make a comment about it. Accordingly, I am starting to feel some of the late pregnancy discomforts. For now, they are minor and I am still motoring around just fine.

Jeff has been great throughout this pregnancy; he is so excited. We went to Belize as a delayed honeymoon/early babymoon two weeks ago, and stayed in a hotel without telephone, tv, or internet. It was so relaxing and wonderful, a great way to celebrate our marriage and our impending arrival. In lieu of television, a lot of our time was spent watching my belly jump and contort in function of the baby's movements. It was entertaining. I get all teary-eyed when I think about how wonderful it is to go through this experience with someone who is just as invested in the process as I am. Every woman should have someone by their side during pregnancy, and it is something I will never take for granted.

Mateo is very excited as well; I'd say that he now brings up his baby brother at least once every day. A few days ago, he suggested that I should try to have twins (we had read a book with twins in it a few days prior), and I politely declined. I am so excited and nervous to see how Teo is going to react to his new role. He's been my special guy for so long, and I give him so much love and attention, I am worried he is going to feel neglected or saddened by someone else getting a lot of mama time. And the truth is, babies require a lot of attention. I don't know, we'll work through it. For now, I am trying to soak up a lot of Teo-and-Mama time because I know we won't get to be just the two of us anywhere near as often in a few months. Plus, he is at a stage which I truly love: talking a lot, making up stories, using his imagination in new and interesting ways. He is goofy and clever and, for the most part, pleasant. He is still a three-year-old, but I see him shift away from toddlerhood and towards boyhood more and more each day.

One glorious thing about this baby is that I have almost nothing to buy. My sister has diligently kept all of her baby stuff (I sold a lot of mine due to moves), and we have all the essentials ready to roll. This is such a luxurious position to be in, as compared to the chaos of setting up three different living situations within Teo's first year of life. The plan for now is to rearrange the boys' room -- they're sharing -- and I will need to buy a dresser. I will probably splurge on something new for this baby, maybe just a bedset or something, so that I can experience some of the baby shopping fever, but there's really no need. In general, we are pretty much ready for this guy's arrival, just need to organize. It's hard to coordinate this stuff while in grad school, but fortunately I should have a few weeks left at the end of the term before the baby arrives. I'll have a big ole belly by then, but so be it.

If I recall correctly, this is really when pregnancy speeds up. The first trimester drags on by, waiting to get to that crucial 12-week point. The second trimester just sorta hum-drums along, and the third trimester flies by, with the exception of those final weeks. I can't believe we are already here. I can't wait to meet this little guy and welcome him to our wacky family. This summer is going to be one very exciting adventure!